1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle diagnosis method, and more specifically to a method of reconfiguring an automotive diagnostic tool based on a vehicle's VIN to receive diagnostic data and relay diagnostic data to a remote server via a user's cell phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over time, vehicles have evolved from a generally mechanical device, to a complex electro-mechanical system having a wide-range of computer components integrated into the vehicle. For instance, the components may sense and store operational data (i.e., emissions data, mileage per gallon data, engine temperature data, etc.) on a central onboard computer. Such data may be useful for purposes of diagnosing potential problems with the vehicle. Therefore, there may be a significant desire to access such data.
Accessing such data may require communication with the onboard computer. Given that vehicles are manufactured by a number of different manufacturers, the protocol or computer language used by onboard computers may vary from vehicle to vehicle. However, certain government regulations may require automakers to provide access to certain data stored on an onboard computer. For instance, most, if not all onboard computers on vehicles subject to the government regulation must generally communicate in a basic, standardized protocol to provide certain vehicle data, such as emissions and mileage per gallon.
Other data located on the onboard computer may not be subject to such government regulation. Moreover, onboard computers may use a different protocol for access to data not subject to government regulation. The protocol may vary by the vehicle's manufacturer, make, model, year, etc. Therefore, in order to determine the specific protocol to access certain data in a given onboard computer, it may be necessary to know the manufacturer, make, model, year, etc. for that vehicle.
Many prior art devices are capable of communicating with an onboard computer using the specific protocol of the onboard computer. However, in order to determine the proper protocol to access certain types of data, the prior art devices may require the user to enter the year, manufacturer, make, model, or related information into the device. In this regard, the device may include a user interface having a user menu which the user navigates to enter the vehicle-specific information. For instance, the user menu may include a series of fields which the user may enter the vehicle-specific information into. Furthermore, the user menu may include a number of drop-down menus allowing the user to select the option corresponding to the particular vehicle. In either case, the user is required to navigate through a user menu and input vehicle-specific data. Such a process may take several minutes to complete, during which time a user may lose patience or be drawn to another task. Furthermore, a user may not know all of the information required to access a specific protocol.
In addition to the foregoing, many communication systems have also been developed to communicate diagnostic data from a vehicle for diagnostic analysis. For instance, the increasing sophistication of vehicle diagnostic systems has given rise to a variety of communication systems for interfacing the vehicle diagnostic system to wireless networks, for routing vehicle owners to service providers, the internet and elsewhere. Business models for various automatic systems have emerged, based on different commercial approaches for interfacing communication networks to vehicle voice and data systems. Typically, the communications systems include a wireless appliance installed in the vehicle, wired to the vehicle diagnostic system. The wireless appliance may include, or be wired to a global position satellite (GPS) system, for generating information respecting the location of the vehicle. The wireless appliance may communicate with a dedicated receiver, and charge a subscription fee to maintain and support the data link.
A common shortcoming of such contemporary systems is that they typically require dedicated hardware, e.g. a wireless appliance mounted to a vehicle, and electrically connected to the vehicle computer. The hardware generally relies upon a dedicated wireless communication link to a specific service provider. Consequently, the user may feel captive to a particular diagnostic subscription service. Such systems may be viewed as expensive, of limited functionality, and tend to be standard equipment only in higher priced vehicles.
In relation to conventional prior art systems, it would be desirable to provide a diagnostic communication system that does not require mounting to a vehicle chassis, or need installation by a trained installer. It is desirable to provide a diagnostic communication system that does not require a dedicated communications link, but rather allows a user to connect to a variety of generally available contacts on the cellular network, public telephone network and the internet, without the need for participation in a subscription communication service.
As described below, the present invention, in different combination embodiments, addresses these and other improvements to contemporary vehicle diagnostic communication systems, and business methods related thereto.